Hello friend!
I am Vinay, a PhD student at IIM Ahmedabad. IIM Ahmedabad and Northeastern University Boston are conducting a study on the cadre allocation policy for All India Services officers. You might have seen the call for a survey for this study in various WhatsApp and/or TG groups. With all your support, we have completed the survey. The other part of the study includes an economics experiment mimicking the various cadre allocation policies.

We are conducting our experiment today at 9 pm, and it will take 45-50 minutes of your time with earnings up to 667 INR, including a 200 INR participation earning. Those who have appeared in the UPSC CSE interview in the last three years (including the current ongoing one) are eligible to participate and have not participated in the survey or experiment conducted by us on this earlier.

We would be highly grateful if you would be a part of our experiment. I assure you that it will be a great fun and learning experience. Kindly reach out to me on my number or email if you are available, and we will send you a Zoom link accordingly.

We are looking to run an experiment with 8 participants for this slot.
(Kindly ignore this message if you have already participated in a survey or experiment of this Cadre Allocation Policy study)

Thank you!
Vinay
phd20vinayj@iima.ac.in
+91 8778414665
https://www.iima.ac.in/phdprofile/vinay-kumar-jha

Name ST
Interview date - 4 April 2025 afternoon session, last one to go
Board - Raj Shukla sir
Keywords- Jabalpur, MP, Ramacharitmanas, Rani Durgavati, psir

Chairman - Read out a few things about my DAF and began discussing Ramacharitmanas and asked its salience and difference from Mahabharat. As I started answering, he described how he saw a play and a long monologue . Then asked , why don't we know about our scriptures in depth? Why have we not promoted our scriptures well enough?
Do you think initially humans were good later they became cunning as time progressed?

Member 1
- Industry based assessment of Jabalpur as a city
- If you were made the Collector of Jabalpur how will you boost industrialisation there?
- MP Tourism places to visit
- Places to visit in Ujjain other than Mahakal (I mentioned Ujjain in previous answer)
- How can we bring about inclusive growth?

Member 2-
- what was the contribution of Rani Durgavati in Indian History?
- Fav Doha/ chaupai
- why sundarkaand is most popular?

Member 3- (Lady member)
- Sri Ram is an ideal but the way he abandoned Maa Sita was it appropriate? [I said he had his reasons for Praja Bhakti, yet I consider it unjust] cut me short and counter questioned me
- Have you been to abroad? Which place would you like to travel in India? I said Kerala. Why so many disasters there? Why has the govt not prepared itself enough for it?
- what are the 3 biggest issues facing the humanity today- I said Climate Change, Geopolitical disturbances and wars and before I could give 3rd, she asked isn't terrorism one? I said yes mam, it's a major challenge too. Then she asked do you also consider X as a non state actor? I said yes technology MNCs are critical non state actors in current geopolitics. She said why and how. I explained the polarising effect it has on people's ideas, increasing extremist perspective and narrowing down identity lines.

Member 4-
- Why all wars happen in Afganistan? What's the problem there? I mentioned in contextual sense, reason for various wars, but Chairman asked me for more reasons, I said geostrategic location, mineral endowment nearby,etc
- Such a big mishap happened in Bangladesh. Why?
- why anti India sentiment? Apart from big country, small country syndrome, political calculations and multicultural society, I mentioned the role of China and Pakistan. He countered - but they have always been there, why have we not been able to predict such an occuring? Kept grilling me and I had to say sorry sir, I'll read more on it.
- 5 fugitive economic offenders from India.

Chairman again-
- It is seen that increasing Militarisation is seen as promoting wars but less military spending leads to weak ground deterrence and hence more wars. Do you agree that if Europe had spent more on its military, I could have deterred Russia?
- Is it apt for India to spare just 1.98% of its GDP on defence? What should we do?

Chairman said- Thankyou and I left.

Overall experience - The board seemed bored and saturated with questions. Seemed to be in a hurry to finish, didn't even listen to complete answer. Was DAF based but not much "happening" CA was asked. No smiles, blunt faces.

Panel Mocks-
2 at Samkalp (lil confrontational in reviews), Vajirao and Reddy (grilled a lot), Vision (cordial and decent), Chahal (good experience), Chanakya Mandal Parivar (gave my best performance here).

One to one- Understand UPSC Satyam Sir ( gave extensive analysis of all my answers and suggested specific ways to improve answers (not personality 😝).
Special thanks to Smartwork Labs for spending hours in fine tuning my answers and current affairs revision. Also MPOA for regular online one to one sessions with officers (gave 6-7).

Date - 3rd April
Board - Sheel Vardhan Sir
DAF - IRS, Jhansi, Economics honour, Pottery, Rural development, Spirituality, Wellness Program

Chairman
- Rational behind intermittent fasting? keto diet?
- are they marketing driven trends lacking scientific backing?
- gender based quotas in high performance and merit-driven domains?
- India tax t -GDP ratio is still low. As an IRS, some practical and applicable policy changes which you suggest ?
- I suggested few then he counter that aren't all these implemented ?
- FTA agreements affect MSME and local artisans ?

Member 1
- How to make spiritual tourism secular? - i connected it with rising stress and mental health issues.
- National Monetization Pipeline is being questioned in rural areas. Do you think public assets should be monetized ?
- is there any law regulating fitness influencers and wellness gurus in India ?
- India soft power gain or lose credibility when politicians openly promote spiritual gurus ?

Member 2
- govt schemes focus more on rural science labs or building smart classrooms ?
- One Nation One Health policy ?
- but with poor rural infrastructure does not are we missing the basics ?
- Suppose a village school was giving expired food in the mid day meal. Then who should be held responsible - the cook or the panchayat or the government?
Member then ask if I have to choose one among them then who would you hold responsible - My answee was I would hold the panchayat responsible coz it nodal monitoring body.
While government handle policy and supply logistics... the cook executes instructions butit is the panchayat that act as bridge between policy and ground implementation.

Member 3
- AI generated research and essay becoming common now a days so is it ethical to use such tools in academic competition ?
- Is rural cluster development effective?
- As a DM of Jhansi how you encourage reverse migration of professionals ?

Member 4
- What type of clay you used for pottery?
- tariff rationalisation causes job losses in small domestic industries and now you have to balance trade liberalisation and livelihood security?
- Tax terrorism and shadow economy ?
- Can an atheist person be spiritual ? - I said yes and went on to give example where spirituality can be explored through scientific lens.
Member were very keen to discuss this topic further but chairman sir intervene and sai your interview is over.

Overall the experience was very good. I was better prepared than last time and the interview went largely along expected lines.
No unexpected or tricky questions were asked, and the board members seemed quite satisfied with the answers I gave.

Mock Interview - Samkalp, PW, Nextias. Didn't gave much mock this time though i would suggest that those who are giving there first interview should attend 5 to 6 mock.

One to One with Puneet Sir and Ias Pcs Pathshala Rahul Sir. Both guidance were extremely helpful. Rahul sir covered almost all the daf point very exhaustively.

Thank you community for the transcripts.

Board: Raj Shukla Sir (Forenoon: 1st to go)
Date: 4th April 2025
Name: Majnu bhai

Key DAF Details: Debating, West Bengal, PSIR Optional (rest not asked)

Chair (entirely conversational- lots of back and forth with Sir- no Q&A as such- might have spent around 10 min on this):
1. So you were the President of the debating society- why is debating important
2. What is the point of students debating when at the highest levels of the country, we see a decline in quality
3. Nehru had said Vajpayee would be future PM after listening to his parliament speeches- Vajpayee also a statesman- civility, decorum, respect for opponents etc- now in India and in the US etc also, we don't see that
4. How can we change this?
5. What is the role of social media? (At some point I had mentioned social media)
6. In history, accusations on both sides of distortions- opponents not saying unreasonable things, they are making an argument
7. Even for trump then- many cases against him- some fabricated, some true- liberals haven't always been liberal
8. China says its political model delivers, democracy has stagnated, has democracy failed?
6. Will we see a change in the nature of debates and democracy in the future?

M1:
1. What are the qualities of a good administrator? Is integrity not important (I had forgotten to mention it)
2. How many districts in WB. If you are posted in any district, what would be your priorities
4. A few good things and bad things about WB
5. Opportunities and threats wrt WB
6. Have you visited Tagore museum (I said no. Wasn't sure which one he was talking about)

M2:
1. Women's reservation in parliament- do we need it, any issue with Article 16
2. Differences between old silk road and current silk road or BRI
2. What is snorkeling (no idea why this was randomly asked)

M3
1. 4th April significance? (I had looked this up- Martin Luther King assassination)
2. Impact of that? Which law was passed
3. Black lives matter movement
4. Difference between US and India's affirmative action
5. Microsoft was also founded today- its impact?
6. Your Optional is PSIR- there are protests in Turkey, will the country become more authoritarian
7. What is the significance of Turkey for Europe
8. What are the issues between India and Turkey

M4
1. Just a more personal question- you have studied English, Hindi in school. Can you speak, write, read Bengali? Why is there a trend nowadays of children learning languages other than the mother tongue, what does it say about society

M4 only asked one question. Chairperson said thank you. In my case, this genuinely wasn't a knowledge test at all. Could have appeared for an interview with these questions in January as well- general, analytical questions.

Mocks- 16 overall (Satyendranath Tagore centre in Kolkata, Vajiram, NextIAS, Drishti, Chahal, Vajirao etc etc) Got speaking practice and topic areas were repeated in actual interview

Board: Raj Shukla Sir (Forenoon: 1st to go)
Date: 4th April 2025
Name: Majnu bhai

Key DAF Details: Debating, West Bengal, PSIR Optional (rest not asked)

Chair (entirely conversational- lots of back and forth with Sir- no Q&A as such- might have spent around 10 min on this):
1. So you were the President of the debating society- why is debating important
2. What is the point of students debating when at the highest levels of the country, we see a decline in quality
3. Nehru had said Vajpayee would be future PM after listening to his parliament speeches- Vajpayee also a statesman- civility, decorum, respect for opponents etc- now in India and in the US etc also, we don't see that
4. How can we change this?
5. What is the role of social media? (At some point I had mentioned social media)
6. In history, accusations on both sides of distortions- opponents not saying unreasonable things, they are making an argument
7. Even for trump then- many cases against him- some fabricated, some true- liberals haven't always been liberal
8. China says its political model delivers, democracy has stagnated, has democracy failed?
6. Will we see a change in the nature of debates and democracy in the future?

M1:
1. What are the qualities of a good administrator? Is integrity not important (I had forgotten to mention it)
2. How many districts in WB. If you are posted in any district, what would be your priorities
4. A few good things and bad things about WB
5. Opportunities and threats wrt WB
6. Have you visited Tagore museum (I said no. Wasn't sure which one he was talking about)

M2:
1. Women's reservation in parliament- do we need it, any issue with Article 16
2. Differences between old silk road and current silk road or BRI
   2. What is snorkeling (no idea why this was randomly asked)

M3
1. 4th April significance? (I had looked this up- Martin Luther King assassination)
2. Impact of that? Which law was passed
3. Black lives matter movement
4. Difference between US and India's affirmative action
5. Microsoft was also founded today- its impact?
6. Your Optional is PSIR-  there are protests in Turkey, will the country become more authoritarian
7. What is the significance of Turkey for Europe
8. What are the issues between India and Turkey

M4
1. Just a more personal question- you have studied English, Hindi in school. Can you speak, write, read Bengali? Why is there a trend nowadays of children learning languages other than the mother tongue, what does it say about society

M4 only asked one question. Chairperson said thank you. In my case, this genuinely wasn't a knowledge test at all. Could  have appeared for an interview with these questions in January as well- general, analytical questions.

Mocks- 16 overall (Satyendranath Tagore centre in Kolkata, Vajiram, NextIAS, Drishti, Chahal, Vajirao etc etc) Got speaking practice and topic areas were repeated in actual interview

Name: Injun
Board: Hon' Sanjay Verma sir
Date: 07/04/2025
Keywords: Travel vlogs, Odisha, NGO, NDA

President of the Board
1. Give me names of 2 countries each from Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa( one having best governance and 2nd worst in governance)
2. In WW2 aircrafts which came back safely were observed to have bullets marks on wings and under carriage, does that signify that those parts were the strongest and how it was tackled in later versions.
M2(lady)
1. Have you heard about Visakha Guidelines, tell me its provisions?
2. What is the composition of the internal committee?
3. What can be done to tackle the non verbal non physical harassment that women face at workplace?
4. How can we do gender sensitization?
5. You worked in Cyclone Fani Relief work, tell me what all you did?
6. What can we do to avoid the problems that underprivileged people face during such calamities?
M3(lady)
1. Give me the names of 4 backward districts in Odisha and point out 1 major issue of that district.
2. Tell me one place that we should surely visit and why?
3. We are seeing that women officers are increasingly joining the armed forces of India, should we allow them in combat roles on the frontline?
4. Is our society ready for it? I gave example of IDF, so she said that our society is different than that of Israel, will it he possible?
M4
1. What happened at the NDA?
2. Tell me about the 2.5 front war?
3. Can we have deterrence with China in near future?
Follow up questions, thej chairperson told to stop and told next member to ask
M5
1. You talked about tariffs, what should be the best possible stance for any country and India in view of US Tariffs?
2. How US benefits from having the reserve currency as its currency?
3. How can a country maintain its fiscal stability? I answer gold is the solution
4. Can US keep on printing dollars? What are the consequences?

Sanjay Verma Sir said thank you your interview is over

Messed up in initial ques on best countries in governance, he didn't looked satisfied, some answers to M2 were generic, rest was fine

Mocks given: Akriti Ias( Aradhana Johri Ma'am feedback was great, Prateek Bhatt sir was a wonderful mentor throughout), Apti Plus, OnlyIas, Vajirao and Reddy, Samkalp, Next Ias, Sleepy classes

Hello people,
You are requested to share your interview transcripts of CSPT 2023-2024 for common good (in following format)

Name:
Key DAF details:
Questions asked:
(Can write answers also if one wishes)

Can give in chat/text format or word format

Please forward transcripts on following ids -
@Pegasus_IND @psm0506
@kaptaanjacksparrow
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Team @csetranscripts
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Date : 07/04/2025
A GIRL HAS NO NAME
Board: Sheelvardhan Sir.
Keywords: Rajeevika, Dholpur, Healthseeking behavior, IR, Bhaktigeet and Raag, Police mitra

Chairman Sir: Your friends call you xyz? We will also call you that okay? Welcome to this discussion.
1. What work did you perform as YP in Rajeevika?
2. You worked in Dholpur, this is also dholpur house, who were kings of dholpur?
3. What is healthseeking behavior?
4. Do you know Varier elvin's study about gonds? ( I didn't knew)
5. Why kiev and Kyiv two different spellings?
6.who was president of ussr at the time of dissolution? What is glasnost and perestroika?
Member 1.

1. If you were given sole power how will you solve Israel hamas issue? What will you do about jerusalem?
2. What's happening in middle East? Explain like you wrote in you articles.
3. What did you write in magazine? Any favorite memorable piece? ( told about Berlin Wall etc.)
4. Asked about Berlin Wall.
M2

1. Do you sing bhaktisangeet on classical basics? Do you know pandit jitendra abhisheki
2. which raga do you know? What's speciality of raag yaman?
( other questions don't remember)
M3.
Marathi names are very difficult, yours is a tongue twister ( remark on my name:p)
1. What was role in rajeevika ( repeat)
2. What work did you do as police mitra?
3. Now a days such police volunteers are also employed to help senior citizens, what sensitivities should be kept in mind? Is it right to use them?
4. Senior citizens should also be trained to not give sensitive information right?
5. Do we need more focus on job creation or kn R&D?


M4

1. What is scenario in investment, import export, employment, mfg and service sector
2. Impact of tariffs on which sector. ? What is impact on software sector?
3. Why India has more workforce in IT than China?
4.why more floods, landslides etc. Happening ?
5. What measures acc to you should be taken to stop this.?


Very positive experience, cordial and welcoming board. No grilling, gave ample time to express my thoughts. Shared one laugh too.

Mocks helped in reducing nervousness and getting used to situations.
Gave 10+ mocks and one to one.

One to one daf discussion with IPS Mahesh Bhagwat sir, O2O mock with Avinash Dharmadhikari sir, Shubham Agarwal sir (Vidyapeeth ias).

Vision group discussions, JP group discussions, ytf forum and Ketan Patil sir guidence.

mocks: Chahal, Sankalp, Hamdard, Chanakya Mandal Pariwar, vision, vajirao and ravi, sriram ias, forum ias etc...

3rd april, 1st to go
Lasted for 28 mins
Board: BB Swain Sir
Keywords: women, IRMS (other topic nothing asked)
Greeted good afternoon. The room was too small. I had members sitting just beside me like we were eating on a circular dining table.

Chairman sir:
You are in IRMS. What has really happened now ..the merger and the demerger.
Did you choose any option?
He just said then you will join in December... Then realised that this result will also come.

M1: Tell me about your essay(daf)
What is the difference between Japan's trains and ours?
How can we improve our punctuality?
Did you work in slums?(Daf)
If you were municipal commissioner for a day what issues do you see in a city?
Tell me a city in ancient times which was very well developed?
Are you interested in sports?
What are different companies of EV?
He asked something technical...what if we use electricity and battery something like that. Cannot recall exactly.

M2(woman):
Tell me 2 women who changed the way the world sees a woman.
Do you know about Maya Angelou?
You like to watch sitcoms. Tell me 2 women ...1 who is typical indian and other who defies the criteria of woman
What is budget short form of?
What does budget represent?
You had science in 12th then arts then why accounts now?


M3:
You will join in December. What do you do in your free time. One does not study for 24hrs.
How many crores are in 1tn?
What is railway doing for women safety?
Is there any commission for women? Can one approach it directly?
What is meri saheli initiative that you mentioned?
Issues of higher education

M4:
You mentioned nep. What are 3 problems in it?
What will you teach uniquely to children of class 1 to 5?
What is your opinion on women in the army?
What can be done to increase women in labour force?

Chairman sir:
Do you want to say something?
All the members said all the best.

All members were listening. Very cordial.
Mocks given: nextias, chanakya mandal, pwonlyias.

Name : xyz
Board: sanjav verma sir
Keywords: cars, quora, IIT BHU varanasi
Date : 07/04/2025
Chairman:
1. You like cars tell me how many components are there in a car
2. What are the controversial issues you have come up on quora
3. Tell me some non political one
4. I am giving you a word tell me something about it" centre"
Lady member(1)
5. Do you think government should regulate social media for kids and students
6. I see you have Watching TV series as hobby have you heard about adolescent TV series?( Chairman pointed out that she was reading someone else cv even though I answered)
7. As a dm what will you do If a kid falls in borewell
8. What will you do to calm family
Lady member (2)
9. Varanasi has lot of river pollution issue What you will do for cleaness on ghats
10. Suggest a car for a middle class person
11. Tell me features of the car

Male member (1)
12. What is image of dm in front of ordinary people
13. What is perception of urban people and why
14. What do you think of tesla future
15. Who do you think will replace tesla as largest car maker
16. What about Renault other than byd?
Male member (2)
17. As a dm what will you do if a senior asks something illegal
18. What are skill you would want in your seniors as dm
19. What skills you would want in your juniors as dm
20. How will you solve communication gap between juniors and you
21. What as a dm will you do to change status quo in societal issues
22. Gave me a situation " aap sadak par khade hai ek ghoda ja rha hai kisi ne kha( jane do mat pakdo) what do you understand by this
23. How will you understand what other person is saying in this situation
24. Everyone smiled on my ans and Chairman said your interview is over
Interview duration: 22 minutes
Mocks I found best: gs score, forum ias,next ias and sankalp ias

1. Name - Anonymous
2.Date and Session of Interview - 7 April, Afterenoon
3. Board's Chairman - Suman Mam
4. DAF - IITK civil engg(rest not asked)                                               Chairperson                                                                                              1. U did civil engg from IITK
2. Why buildings use so much glass despite it trapping heat
3. what r green buildings, how to identify it
4. Is there any agency giving some rating
5. What r criteria; u r missing very important one(building material - how its most imp i dont know)
6. Kota suicides - what govt is doing
7. Why hostels r vacant(i said ki suicides, high cost, online - she said no no there is one imp govt regulation b/c which they r empty)
8. Do u know abt CBAM
9. Why; n which major industries r will be impacted by it
(envt, named various industries - she said okay they r but there is one imp reason n specific industry - i said Protectionist, iron n steel (haash pehli br imp vala bta dia))
M1 - 1. U did civil from IITK(i was like haa bhai btaya toh)
2. Why did u choose civil
3. How your thought change abt civil in graduation
4. Seeing so much devp in infra didnt it motivate u join civil
M2 - 1. Tell me abt BIMSTEC
2. Whats happening
3. Is there any pblm b/c of Myanmar
4. Alternative sea route apart from Myanmar
5. What r we doing in AnN island
6. Malacan dilemma(i talked abt chinese oil n trade)
7. Oil toh sbke paas hai aaj - i then told Chinese exports, influence in the region(but he was not convinced ig)
8. What AnN is for Malcca, what is for Lakshadweep
9. Can Lakshadweep overcome the loss we have had in Maldives
M3 - 1. U did civil from IITK
2. EQ resistant buildings
3. How EQ resistant for rural, remote n poor sections
4. What is Hawala transaction, how its done - explain me how practically move from one hand to other , no theoritical answer
5. PMLA - is it effective(dont know data)
M4 - 1. Why civil services;
2. But they r just servants of politicians n corruption
3. Hardwork, destiny, luck - what ull choose
4. Diff bw architech n civil engg
5. There r many archi recruited in govt, they work for yeard n then layed off - how to solve it
Chairperson - u may leave
Overall experience GOOD(Okayish baki marks will tell) but i must say ki Suman maam itni bhi buri nhi hai(she has a very pleasing personality); Members were giving expressions n in some questions they seemed convinced but in some not
Mocks  4 - Next Ias(faculty); vajirao n reddy; vision(faculty); Samkalp(they demotivated me so much ki mai vapas lucknow a gya)
One to one - The GREAT Shubham Agrawal Sir(vidyapeeth IAS) - special thanks to him, motivated a lot, answered my doubts even when he was driving, in early morning(he will give u everything from knowledge to confidence, On 6th april he told me how to deal with Suman Maam n he was bang on - u need confidence, calmness n optimism)

Name: XYZ
Board: Suman Sharma ma'am 
Date: 07/04/2025 (Forenoon)
Keywords: Gujarat, Haryana, Chartered Accountant, PSIR (nothing else asked from DAF, no question from hobbies)

Chairperson:
1. Gujarat has a lot of semiconductor industries coming to it. So tell me what are the companies which are coming?
2. In which region they are coming in?
3. Why Dholera SIR? What is it's significance?
4. But Gujarat has a lot of SEZs also to incentivise these companies. So what is the difference between SEZ and SIR?
5. You mentioned that in SEZ tax exemptions are provided, so aren't any incentives provided in SIR?
6. On one hand we say that smoking kills, on the other there is a lot of tobacco cultivation in Gujarat. So what is your take on that, should we ban it?
7. If we respect consumer choice, should we legalise marijuana in India?
8. Currently, wars like the Russia Ukraine war is going on, so do you think that another nuclear arms race is into play?

Member 1:
1. Gurcharan Das in his "India grows at Night" has mentioned about the rise of private sector amidst public failure, as was the case with IT sector as well. So do you think govt should stop interfering?
2. How has govt supported the IT sector or has it risen by itself? Which policies have the govt initiated to support them?
3. Why are companies in the SEZs of China more successful? What have they done right?

Member 2:
1. As you are aware that Trump has imposed reciprocal tariffs all over the world. What are its advantages for India?
2. What are the challenges for India w.r.t. above?
3. The recent remark about Indian startups engaging in delivery apps is on the rounds. So give me three reasons why startups and MSMEs are not progressing in India in this regard.

Member 3 (lady member):
1. What is the role of independent directors in a company? 
2. Whom do they report to? Where do they report? 
3. Who are the intended stakeholders for such reporting?
4. Suppose a fraud happens and the independent director has no knowledge of it. Would he be accountable as he is an independent director?
5. What is your opinion on the recent negotiations regarding India-USA bilateral trade agreement? Will it be successful? 
6. With how many countries does India have an FTA? Name a few countries?
7. What is your observation on the various FTAs that India has with other countries vis a vis the proposed bilateral trade agreement with USA?

Member 4:
1. Tell me 5 good things and 1 bad thing about Haryana.
2. What is the contribution of Haryana to the Indian economy?
3. What is the difference between the Democrats and Republicans of USA?
4. Which one is better: Democrat or Republican ideology? 
5. You are sitting in Dholpur house, so why is it called Dholpur? 

Chairperson: Thank you, your interview is over.

Mocks: Vajiram, Samkalp, Chahal, Drishti, Chanakya Mandal, Next IAS, Symbiosis IAS (Gujarat), 
O2O with: Mahesh Bhagwat Sir, Shubham Sir (Vidyapeeth IAS), Vivek Thakar Sir (Symbiosis IAS), Jaymin Patel Sir (Gujarat Administrative Services), Ravindran Sir (Vajiram)

Overall experience: It was a round table setup. All the panel members including the chairperson had a serious face the entire time. Mocks are useful for practice and confidence purposes, no questions repeated otherwise. O2O proved better for me. Thank you to the community for sharing the transcripts as a few questions were repeated.

Board:Sheel vardhan sir

Name: SS
Date : 07/04/2025
Daf- income tax, geography, uttar pradesh, mechanical engineer, old Hindi songs, critically acclaimed movies


You like listening to old Hindi songs on life which one ur fav because I like to listen to it too

I gave my answer he suggested one other song

You like watching critically acclaimed movies , have you watched lapata ladies
Your view on the character of police officer, some more discussion on it

2nd member
I see your daf great things you have done very good daf
You have made a short film what was it on and what was it shot on

Let us move to something different “deterrence” what do you think about it

What do you think it commonly used for

What do you think about nuclear deterrence
Is it only to provide deterrence from nuclear war or any war because we have fought Kargil war post having nuclear deterrence

3rd person
AI like ChatGPT etc how have you used it

How to then tackle use of ai by students

How to change our assessment because he can plagiarise things

Why so fear of deepseek
What one question would you ask deepseek that it would not give a satisfactory answer to ( I said if china is an autocracy)

4th person
Where you are posted in income tax
What is your work profile
More discussion on ai, it can use so much of our data, what should we do- I said no overregulation as it is still a new emerging tech of so many beneficial use cases, focus upon awareness generation, training people on its mindful use

5th person
U are an income tax inspector which tax is more rational, useful, better etc.
Min govt max governance what do u think
Cross questioning on my answer of tech integration to simplify and improve governance? Don’t you think using tech only increases no of cases which again have to be dealt by humans only, I said improve the quality of investigation as we can analyse thru tech those data which we would have missed

U are a geography student tell me the link between climate change and sea/oceans

Any positive impact- I said only negative comes to mind sir

Chairman- last question which place you would not like to be in from a physical geography pov

Thankyou

Board - Suman Sharma
Date -07-04-25 AN session
DAF - Railways , Law, Commerce

Chairperson
1. What is your opinion on recent merger and demerger of Railways services?
2. What are the initiatives being taken by Railways to achieve Carbon neutrality by 2030?
3. If you have funds, how much percentage would you allot to different activities of Railways?
4. How much Railways spend on Staff?
5. What is your opinion about decriminalisation of Attempt to suicide?
6. But Then how would we track those people who are attempting suicides? What steps need to be taken for this?

Member 1 -
1. Why are you losing your 4 years seniority in Railways for IAS?
2. But even in IAS, difference is for initial years then you are posted in Central government?
3. Is PPP model successful in Station Redevelopment?
4. Are they taking Viability Gap funding?
5. What about New Delhi Station?
6. What would you do to bring a change in cross subsidisation policy of Railways?
7. Don’t you think that High Speed Railways are just vanity projects?

Member 2-
1. How much renewable energy do you think Railways can generate?
2. What innovative ideas you would bring to reduce accidents in Railways?
3. What about other technologies?
4. There is so much of brain drain and private sector not spending much on R&D? Suggest one idea to increase spending on R&D by Private sector?
5. What leadership traits or styles you would adopt?

Member 3-
1. what are different stock exchanges in India?
2. What is NIFTY?
3. What are the criteria for companies to include them in benchmark indices?
4. What are listed and non listed companies?
5. What are the consideration companies make whether to get listed or not?
6. What are the compliances to be done on getting listed?
7. What are the different technologies for toilets being used by Railways?
8. What is the issue regarding one bacteria?

Member 4-
1. What is your opinion about social media?
2. What do you think about AI?
3. What is your opinion about GROK?
4. Don’t you think these wars are going on to serve egos?
5. What can be the solution for ongoing wars?

*Interview Transcript*

Name: Amoghavarsha Nrupatunga
Board: Sri Sheel Vardan Singh
Date: 07/04/2025
Afternoon Session, Time: 2:10 to 2:40 PM

DAF keywords: Books, movies, cricket, seismic base isolation, AE PWD, Constitution,

Chairman: Very Good Afternoon. Welcome. Take your seat.

Q. You have mentioned your hobby as Reading and Collecting books. It's fascinating. Given that the attention span is decreasing in today's time.
It is said "Either sit with a man of books or a man of experience" So very good.
Q. Why attention span decreasing? Doomscrolling? What is Digital fasting?
Q. Do you follow any social media policy as an individual to tackle this?
Q. Should then we impose it on all? (I said no sir, its an individual choice)
Q. How many books do you have in your collection?
Q. What's the difference between bibliophile, bookworm and wordsmith?
Q. What does language mean to you? What is script? Can language exist without script and vice versa?
Q. Script of hindi language is Devanagari. Whats the script of Kashmir language called?
Q. What is the old name of Jhelum?

Member 1.
Q. What fiction books have you read? (I mentioned agatha christie and Jeffrey archer)
Q. Favorite agatha christie book?
Q. Your favourite agatha christie detective? Hercule Poirot or Mary Marple?
Q. What's the speciality of Poirot? What do you like his character more?
Q. Have you read Sherlock Holmes? (Mentioned that i just watched the tv series)
Q. How is his way of deduction different from Sherlock Holmes?

Member 2.
Q. Do you read non-fiction books? What genre? (Constitution and law)
Q. Constitution genre is very large. Any specific books you've read? (Mentioned Gautam Bhatia's Constitution of India: Conversation with Power)
Q. What do you think about the language of India's Constitution? Don't you think its difficult for common man to understand the text of it?
Q. Any other books apart from Constitution in non fiction? (I mentioned Courtroom Genius - biography of Nani Palkhivala)
Q. Nani Palkhivala used to give speech about something and somewhere. Do you know it?
(Post budget discussions in Brabourne Stadium Mumbai)
Q. You mentioned you follow cricket. Make a playing XI of indian team including players from 70s to present. (I mentioned Anil Kumble in the XI, so he asked "karnataka quota"?)

Member 3.
Q. Cybercrimes are increasing in india. What is the current cybercrime framework.
Q. Changing nature of cybercrime?
Q. Any measures you'd want to suggest?
Q. Do you know any plays by Girish Karnad?
Q. Your favorite part in Constitution?

Member 4.
Q. PWD and corruption go hand in hand, this is a wide spread public perception. Do you agree with it?
Q. Reasons for such perception?
Q. Measures taken. What steps do you think are needed to reduce it on ground level.
Q. There's a increasing trend of Freebies including your state. How do you view them? Whats the difference with welfare measures? Do you support them? (I said they are needed, but targeting has to be better)
Q. So free electricity shouldn't be given to farmers? (I said depleting GW levels in Punjab haryana)
Q. Issues with giving free electricity to everyone?
Q. What changes will you make with existing freebies. (Linking with Renewable energy instead of free electricity, skilling instead of unemployment allowance)

Chairman:
Thank you _. Your interview is over.

I said thank you sir and said Namaskara (folded hands) to chairman and everyone. He reverted back with Namaskara (and a gentle smile)


Mocks: 10+ One to one: 5. Helped very much for confidence building and some questions repeated.
Notable ones: SriramIAS, Samkalp, Unacademy, VisionIAS.

Board was very very cordial according to me. No grilling whatsoever. Totally DAF based. Enjoyed the process.
Good luck to everyone.
Thank you to Transcripts Community.

Name- superman
Date - 03 april
Last to go in afternoon
Time around 30min

Board - raj shukla sir
Keywords - ujjain ,child labour,psir,hobby cooking


Chairman - very long monologue on russia Ukraine war and cease fire possibility
Then asked whether ceasefire is going to be taken place or not ?
Then 5 min discussion went on this
He take position that ceasefire is never going to take place but I choose it's going to be happen
Later on sir told okk so you are very optimistic about it

M1- He asked on ujjain and tourism and issue of shipra river,causes of pollution,about kumbh ,
He also told if you become DC of ujjain how will you promote tourism in ujjain
He also asked about kalidash and sandipani asharam
Also asked about shakti peeth
And also asked connection of kalidash with which one shaktipeeth

M2- asked about urban challenges fund
Situation based how will you tackle child labour in your district as collector
Industries prone to child labour
Asked why malwa is famous
Rest questions not able to recall

M3- female member
Long monologue on russia Ukraine war and how China is going to be benefited
And then grilling
Then question on places of worship monologue and issues and then asked in my view all temples be taken under government control- what do u think - so I don't agree with mam
Then again question on same
Then question on temple administration structure should be changed ?

M4- asked on cuisine of malwa and what is daal bafla etc
Asked how u want to see yourself after 20 years not as administrator or business but as life

Then chairman said your interview is over thank you

My take - sometime mocks questions do repeat so preparing those questions can be helpful.
Seating arrangement was good very big table and comfortable chair
Everybody was smiling in room

Interview date - 08/04/25
Board - Suman Sharma Maam
DAF - Power sector, Chartered Accountancy, Cleanliness, Commerce optional, Meerut

Chair - Term of Power Purchase Agreements (PPA)
- Short term vs long term PPA (Interest rates, utility etc.)
- Why civil services
- Are we overprotecting the underprivileged
M1
- Difference between presidential and parliamentary form of govt
- Why India chosen Parliamentary; challenges; how to overcome
- Poverty line (Tendulkar, World Bank, MPI)
M2
- Responsibility of civil servant
- How to build trust among public
- Why Trump is levying tariffs
- What should India do
- How to manage global uncertainty
M3
- Cleanliness drives
- North pacific garbage
- What should be done to increase awareness
- Cleanest city
M4
- Difference between Sales tax, VAT, GST
- Difference between GVA and GST
- Major initiatives in Meerut
- GST challenges

Overall- Time was around 30 minutes; Absolutely a discussion- no grilling - supportive panel.

Thank you to the transcript group 🙏

Harry Potter
• Date: 17-03-2025
• Afternoon session 3rd to go
• Board: Sanjay Verma sir
• DAF keywords: Voice over, multimedia editing, Civil Engineering, Sociology, Flood plain mapping, Audiobooks

Sanjay verma sir:
1. What kind of voice over have you done?
2. Are you a reader or listener?
3. What application are you using to listen to audiobooks?
4. What is the subscription rate?
5. Who is the best elocutionist according to you.?
6. What is the most acute intersection present in the society?
7. Can AI replace voice artistry because currently so many songs and Youtube videos are being done using
Member 1:
8. What are the river linkage prjects going on?
9. What do you think about such projects
10. What is India's status in Rare earth minerals?
11. Should we diversify our imports of RER and where are we currently importing from
12. We are allowing too much water from Indus to Pakistan. Shouldn't we stop that?
13. Chinese infrastructure and US infrastructure

Member 2
14. About flood plain mapping
15. We are downloading too much nowadays and leads to wastage of resources like print-outs. What alternatives do we have?
1. I said Cloud computing and SaaS
16. So doesn’t that cause Privacy issues?
17. Some discussion on Dpdp act
18. What steps are done while designing a earthquake resistant building and post construction techniques to monitor and retrofitting ?

Member 3:
19. Issue of polygamy
20. Any laws to prevent it?
21. Triple talaq being criminalized- some discussion
22. Some discussion on UCC. How should it be implemented?
23. Which state implemented it recently?

Member 4:
24. What was the reason for the recent railway stampede in Delhi?
25. How could such incidents be reduced?
26. If you are a person who manages a railway station what will be your immediate actions for such stampede
27. OTT is filled with harmful content nowadays. How would you stop such things ?
28. Education system is deteriorating as per NGO reports? What could have been the reasons. I said three reasons

Then chairman sir continued this discussion
29. Don’t you think assessments in education is also a factor... I said yes and explained how NEP could solve it.
30. Are you a risk taker or a risk averse person. Some discussion in this...

Board was cordial. They were listening very calmly...
Mocks: Onlyias, Chahal, Samkalp(relatable), Vision ias, Forum ias

Date : 07/04/2025
A GIRL HAS NO NAME
Board: Sheelvardhan Sir.
Keywords: Rajeevika, Dholpur, Healthseeking behavior, IR, Bhaktigeet and Raag, Police mitra

Chairman Sir: Your friends call you xyz? We will also call you that okay? Welcome to this discussion.
1. What work did you perform as YP in Rajeevika?
2. You worked in Dholpur, this is also dholpur house, who were kings of dholpur?
3. What is healthseeking behavior?
4. Do you know Varier elvin's study about gonds? ( I didn't knew)
5. Why kiev and Kyiv two different spellings?
6.who was president of ussr at the time of dissolution? What is glasnost and perestroika?
Member 1.

1. If you were given sole power how will you solve Israel hamas issue? What will you do about jerusalem?
2. What's happening in middle East? Explain like you wrote in you articles.
3. What did you write in magazine? Any favorite memorable piece? ( told about Berlin Wall etc.)
4. Asked about Berlin Wall.
M2

1. Do you sing bhaktisangeet on classical basics? Do you know pandit jitendra abhisheki
2. which raga do you know? What's speciality of raag yaman?
( other questions don't remember)
M3.
Marathi names are very difficult, yours is a tongue twister ( remark on my name:p)
1. What was role in rajeevika ( repeat)
2. What work did you do as police mitra?
3. Now a days such police volunteers are also employed to help senior citizens, what sensitivities should be kept in mind? Is it right to use them?
4. Senior citizens should also be trained to not give sensitive information right?
5. Do we need more focus on job creation or kn R&D?


M4

1. What is scenario in investment, import export, employment, mfg and service sector
2. Impact of tariffs on which sector. ? What is impact on software sector?
3. Why India has more workforce in IT than China?
4.why more floods, landslides etc. Happening ?
5. What measures acc to you should be taken to stop this.?


Very positive experience, cordial and welcoming board. No grilling, gave ample time to express my thoughts. Shared one laugh too.

Mocks helped in reducing nervousness and getting used to situations.
Gave 10+ mocks and one to one.

One to one daf discussion with IPS Mahesh Bhagwat sir, O2O mock with Avinash Dharmadhikari sir, Shubham Agarwal sir (Vidyapeeth ias).

Vision group discussions, JP group discussions, ytf forum and Ketan Patil sir guidence.

mocks: Chahal, Sankalp, Hamdard, Chanakya Mandal Pariwar, vision, vajirao and ravi, sriram ias, forum ias etc...

Interview date - 08/04/25
Board - Suman Sharma Maam
DAF - Power sector, Chartered Accountancy, Cleanliness, Commerce optional, Meerut

Chair - Term of Power Purchase Agreements (PPA)
- Short term vs long term PPA (Interest rates, utility etc.)
- Why civil services
- Are we overprotecting the underprivileged
M1
- Difference between presidential and parliamentary form of govt
- Why India chosen Parliamentary; challenges; how to overcome
- Poverty line (Tendulkar, World Bank, MPI)
M2
- Responsibility of civil servant
- How to build trust among public
- Why Trump is levying tariffs
- What should India do
- How to manage global uncertainty
M3
- Cleanliness drives
- North pacific garbage
- What should be done to increase awareness
- Cleanest city
M4
- Difference between Sales tax, VAT, GST
- Difference between GVA and GST
- Major initiatives in Meerut
- GST challenges

Overall- Time was around 30 minutes; Absolutely a discussion- no grilling - supportive panel.

Thank you to the transcript group 🙏